Saturday, December 22, 2012

With Boise State's victory over Washington this afternoon, the Broncos finished the season 11-2. That puts Boise State in elite company. The Broncos have tied the modern record previously held by Nebraska (1993-1997), Florida State (1996-2000) and Oklahoma (2000-2004) with five consecutive 11-win seasons. If Boise State is fortunate enough to win 11 games next season, they would break another modern record.Only two other schools in college football history have ever accomplished this. The great Yale teams of 1888-1892 won 11 or more games in each season, while Pennsylvania set the all-time mark that may never be broken. Penn won 11 or more games from 1890-1900, an amazing streak of 11 straight seasons.

Boise State has tapped into its fertile recruiting ground of Arizona to land another great receiver. Jake Roh, a 6-3, 210-pound wideout from Chaparral High School in Scottsdale has given his commitment.Roh looks to be one of the top recruits in what is shaping up to me an amazing recruiting class on paper. However, given the results of the last few years, I prefer the two-star student-athletes that are hungry and have something to prove. With the Boise State coaching staff, those two-star players work their tails off and by the time they are seniors, they are as good as the three and four-star players, if not better. Plus, they are unselfish, well-grounded, work hard in school, and don't get in trouble.I always thought Chris Petersen's toughest job will be when he starts having those high-value recruits interested. His challenge is to continue to recruit the same dependable guys he did since 2001, even though the pool of talent available to him is much greater.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Junior College cornerback Cleshawn Page from L.A. Harbor College has committed to Boise State, according to our sources.

Page (5-10, 187) was a weekend visitor to Boise and was so impressed that he gave his commitment.

I'm going to get it (my degree) in business. They have a great business program. They have a winning program that I want to contribute to. I'm going to come in, do my best, work hard, and take my shot at making the league (NFL). Get my two-year degree, and hopefully go to the league."

The 5-foot-10 corner chose Boise State over offers from Syracuse, Utah State, Hawai'i, Louisiana Tech, South Florida and Wyoming. Page has three years to play two.

After a weekend visit, athlete Thomas Sperbeck has committed to Boise State. Sperbeck, 6-0, 167-pounds, has been recruited this year at quarterback, wide receiver and safety, and will begin his career at Boise State at free safety.

Sperbeck comes to Boise from Jesuit High School in Carmichael, California.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Derrick Thomas, running back with Butler Community College, has given a verbal commitment to Boise State, Blue Football Through and Through has learned. Thomas is a 6-2, 215-pound redshirt sophomore running back.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

I knew Kendal Key was a Bronco several days ago but it was a piece of information I couldn't divulge until it went public. I'm excited at his prospects. He is like an Austin Pettis or Matt Miller with even better speed. I don't know if he will play as a true freshman or not, but if ready, he would certainly add a lot to the Bronco offense. Key is 6-3, 195 from Helix High School in the San Diego area.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Two former Boise State assistant football coaches, Bryan Harsin and Sean Kugler, have been named head coaches in the same week.Harsin was hired as the Arkansas State coach while Kugler will head the program at UTEP, the school he played for in college. Harsin was Boise State's offensive coordinator prior to being hired for the same position at Texas while Kugler was the offensive line coach at Boise State before entering the NFL ranks as an assistant.

Bob Gregory of Boise State has been named the 2012 National Linebackers Coach of the Year according to Football Scoop.Senior J.C. Percy had 101 tackles for the Broncos with 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, one recovery and one pass break-up in earning All-MWC honors. All told, Gregory's linebackers accounted for three of Boise State's top six tacklers.Gregory's unit led a Boise State defense that ranked in the nation's Top 10 in four categories. The Broncos were ninth in total defense (304.7 yards per game) and sixth in scoring defense, allowing 14.9 points per game. Boise State was seventh in pass efficiency defense (101.4) and tied for fourth in pass defense (163.4 yards per game). Boise State forced 33 turnovers, third-most in college football.The Bronco defense allowed just 17.1 first downs per game, 10th in the nation, and seventh in red zone defense with just 18 touchdowns and one field goal scored on them.Gregory was one of three finalists for the award selected by nominations by coaches, athletic directors and athletic department personnel. The other finalists were Bob Diaco of Notre Dame, Clark Lea of Bowling Green and co-coaches Kelly Poppinga & Paul Tidwell of BYU.Gregory will receive his award at the AFCA Convention in January.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

It's already the best home football season in school history and we only know two conference teams that will play in Boise.According to information we've obtained, Boise State will host the top two teams in the Big East Conference this year, Louisville and Rutgers, in 2013. We will report more of the Broncos' conference schedule when it takes shape, but wow, what a couple of great home games!

Outside linebacker Gabe Perez has commited to play for Boise State after his visit to Boise over the weekend according to multiple sources.Perez (6-5, 215) is among the tallest linebackers ever to commit to Boise State. Perez also visited Utah, was offered by Colorado, Colorado State, Utah State, Nevada and Army andPerez's commitment brings Boise State's commit total to 16 for this year's recruiting class.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Coaches of the Mountain West gave Boise State one final parting shot, refusing to name senior D.J. Harper to either the first or second team and only placing one Bronco, Matt Paradis, on the first team offense (wonder if they've ever heard of Matt Miller?)

Sunday, December 2, 2012

BCS "championship" game: Notre Dame vs. AlabamaFiesta Bowl: Oregon vs. Kansas StateSugar Bowl: Florida vs. LouisvilleRose Bowl: Stanford vs. WisconsinOrange Bowl: Florida State vs. Northern IllinoisCotton Bowl: Oklahoma has accepted the bid to play Texas A&MChick-Fil-A: Clemson will play LSUAlamo Bowl: Texas will play Oregon StateLas Vegas Bowl: Washington has accepted the bid to play Boise StateHeart of Dallas Bowl: Oklahoma State has accepted the bid to play PurdueSun Bowl: USC vs. Georgia TechRussell Athletic: Virginia Tech has accepted the bid to play RutgersIdaho Potato Bowl: Toledo has accepted the bid to play Utah StateMilitary Bowl: Bowlling Green has accepted the bid to play San Jose StateNew Mexico Bowl: Arizona has accepted the bid to play NevadaLiberty Bowl: Iowa State stole Louisiana Tech's spot and will play TulsaIndependence Bowl: Ohio has accepted the bid to play Louisiana-MonroeFight Hunger Bowl: Arizona State has accepted the bid to play NavyBelk Bowl: Duke has accepted the bid to play CincinnatiMeineke Car Care Bowl: Texas Tech has accepted the bid to play MinnesotaLittle Caesar's Bowl: Central Michigan will play Western KentuckyGoDaddy Bowl: Kent State vs. Arkansas State

Boise State was in BCS Bowl contention until noon today, when the Coaches Poll came out. The Broncos were battling Oklahoma, Northern Illinois, Clemson, UCLA, Nebraska, Michigan and Northwestern to get to #16, a spot claimed by NIU.

Let's take a look at the bowls that Boise State's poll mates in the #11-20 range have announced they will be playing in. This is what is most wrong with college football:

Nebraska--they'll play Georgia in the Capital One Bowl.

Michigan, the team right ahead of Boise State in the BCS Standings, will play South Carolina in the Outback Bowl.

UCLA, which lost twice in a week, will play Baylor in the Holiday Bowl.

Northwestern will play Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.

Boise State, not offered any of the above bowls, has accepted a bid in what's left--the Las Vegas Bowl.

Blue Through and Through broke the story this morning at 12:15 ET, being the first source to report that Northern Illinois would finish in the Top 16 and get the automatic bid to a BCS Bowl. After we reported it, the other three BCS prognosticators all changed their projections one by one to fall in line with our story. First, the BCS Guru agreed with us, then Brad Edwards and finally Jerry Palm.Sports Illustrated has now confirmed our initial report and indicated that Northern Illinois will play in the Orange Bowl against Florida State.

Louisiana Tech, once in serious contention for a BCS Bowl, will not play in any bowl at all, and will relinquish their spot to another team. They were first slated to play in the Independence Bowl, but wanted to try to negotiate a game against a top-ranked opponent. There were two bowls the Bulldogs were shooting for. Tech asked the Independence Bowl to hold their spot, which lower-tier bowls usually do. But they wouldn't do that, so Tech pursued the other bowls. When those two bowls declined to invite Louisiana Tech, the Independence Bowl (and all other bowls) were filled.

When you see polls with wild week-to-week swings, it generally means the voters are reacting to the latest results rather than thinking through the process. If they have the rankings right, the teams in fact shouldn't move much, as you will note week to week in this poll later in the year as the season progresses. This week, the top seven has been in that top seven for six straight weeks, a sign that they have been ranked where they should be. And, the Top 13 is exactly the same as last week.Remember as you follow the rankings that since both the Pac-12 and Big 12 had a request from Boise State to join their respective leagues and they did not invite the Broncos, the "strength-of-schedule" argument does not work against Boise State for those two conferences, and thus their teams will always be ranked behind Boise State with the same number of losses. As it should be. You can't deny a team a place in your conference and then complain about their strength of schedule. A team that beats another head-to-head on the field will always be ranked ahead of that team if they have the same record. As it should be. If the winner of that game has more losses, further evaluation regarding the closeness and location of the game needs to take place, as well as week-to-week evaluation of all season results.

6-5-8-6-6-7-7-7-7-7-7. LSU (10-2, did not play; biggest wins over #8 Texas A&M and #9 South Carolina, lost to #2 Alabama and #6 Florida)----------------------22-16-9-8-8-8. Texas A&M (10-2, did not play; biggest wins over #2 Alabama and Louisiana Tech, lost to #6 Florida and #7 LSU)

10-9-14-18-17-14-11-10-10-11-11. Florida State (11-2, outlasted Georgia Tech 21-15 in ACC Championship; biggest win over #17 Clemson, losses to #6 Florida and North Carolina State)15-13-11-10-9-9-12-11-11-12-12. Boise State (10-2, defeated Nevada and some demons, 21-15; biggest wins over Fresno State and BYU, losses to Michigan State and San Diego State)17-19-16-11-10-11-13-12-13-13-13. Oklahoma (10-2, topped TCU 24-17; biggest wins over #18 Texas, TCU and #23 Oklahoma State, lost to #1 Notre Dame and #3 Kansas State)20-17-15-8-7-10-9-15-15-16-14. Oregon State (9-3, turned it up on Nicholls State 77-3; biggest wins over #19 UCLA and Wisconsin, losses to #4 Oregon, #10 Stanford and Washington)15-23-20-20-20-19-17-16-16-17-15. Clemson (10-2, did not play; biggest win over Georgia Tech, losses to #9 South Carolina and #10 Florida State)

5-3-9-14-15-17-15-14-14-18-16. Texas (8-4, lost to #3 Kansas State 42-24; biggest win over #23 Oklahoma State, lost to #3 Kansas State, #13 Oklahoma, #25 TCU and West Virginia)--------------------------------------22-17. Northern Illinois (12-1, beat Kent State 44-37 in two overtimes in MAC Championship; biggest win over Kent State, lost to Iowa)----------------------------------23-20-18. Utah State (10-2, did not play, biggest wins over #23 San Jose State and Louisiana Tech, losses to Wisconsin and BYU)23-21-25-25-25-20-21-20-17-19-19. UCLA (9-4, lost to #10 Stanford 32-24; biggest wins over #14 Nebraska and USC, lost to #10 Stanford twice, #16 Oregon State and California)---------------------23-24-22-20-15-20. Kent State (11-2, lost to Northern Illinois 44-37 in two overtimes in MAC Championship; biggest win over Rutgers, lost to Northern Illinois and Kentucky)----------------------------------24-21-21. San Jose State (10-2, did not play; biggest wins over San Diego State, Louisiana Tech and BYU, losses to #10 Stanford and Utah State)18-20-19-19-18-15-10-18-17-25-22. Louisville (10-2, beat Rutgers 21-17; biggest wins over Rutgers and Cincinnati, losses to Syracuse and Connecticut)---------------------21-23-21-18-14-23. Nebraska (10-3, lost 70-31 to 7-5 Wisconsin in Big Ten Championship; biggest wins over Michigan and Wisconsin, lost to #19 UCLA, Ohio State and Wisconsin)------------------------------25-22-23-24. Oklahoma State (7-5, lost to Baylor 41-37; biggest win over #24 TCU, lost to #3 Kansas State, #13 Oklahoma, #18 Texas, Baylor and Arizona)14-12-18-17-24-----22----------25-25. TCU (7-5, lost to Oklahoma 24-17; biggest wins over #18 Texas and West Virginia, lost to #3 Kansas State, Oklahoma, #23 Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Iowa State)

Boise State has accepted a bid to play in the Las Vegas Bowl.Georgia will play Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl.Texas A&M has accepted a bid to play in the Cotton Bowl.South Carolina will play Michigan in the Outback Bowl.TCU will battle Michigan State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.Rutgers has accepted a bid to play in the Russell Athletic Bowl.UCLA will play Baylor in the Holiday Bowl.Northwestern will play Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.Tulsa has accepted a Liberty Bowl bid.Fresno State has accepted a bid to play SMU in the Hawai'i Bowl.Cincinnati has accepted a bid in the Belk Bowl.West Virginia will play Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl.Vanderbilt has accepted a bid to play in the Music City Bowl.Air Force and Rice will meet in the Armed Forces Bowl.Minnesota has accepted a bid in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.Mississippi will play Pittsburgh in the Compass Bowl.

Purdue has accepted the invite for the Heart of Dallas Bowl.Navy has accepted a bid to play in the Fight Hunger Bowl.Louisiana-Monroe has accepted a bid to play in the Independence Bowl.Louisiana-Lafayette will play East Carolina in the New Orleans Bowl.UCF has accepted a bid in the Beef O'Brady's Bowl and will play Ball State.

With today's win over Nevada, BoiseState became the second team in the modern era and 4th in history to win ten or more games in 10 out of 11 years. The only year in which BoiseState did not win 10 or more games in the current stretch was 2005 when they were a disappointing 9-4. The Broncos were 12-1 in 2002, 13-1 in 2003, 11-1 in 2004, 13-0 in 2006, 10-3 in 2007, 12-1 in 2008,12-1 in 2009 and 12-1 last season. FloridaState is the only team in history to win 10 or more games in each year of a decade--the Seminoles did that in the 90's. The Seminoles, in fact, strung together 14 consecutive seasons of 10 wins (1987-2000). The only other college football teams to accomplish this amazing achievement are Pennsylvania and Princeton. Penn won 10 games in 11 of 12 seasons from 1890-1901, with 1899 being the only year they didn't win at least 10. Princeton won 11 of 12 from 1888-1899, with 1894 being the lone blemish during that streak.Texas won 10 games in nine straight seasons from 2001-2009, ending that streak just last season. Yale won 10 or more games from 1888-1896, a streak of nine consecutive years. Oklahoma won 10 or more games in nine out of 10 years (1971-1980) and won 10 games in eight out of nine years from 2000-2008. The highly-successful Miami of Florida teams won 10 or more games in nine out of 10 years from 1983-1992. Alabama had nine out of 10 years in which they won 10 or more from 1971-1980. Nebraska won 10 or more in all but one year from 1993-2001. Harvard was able to win 10 or more in all but one year from 1886-1894.USC won 10 or more games every year from 2002-2008 but could not put together a streak of eight out of nine. Florida has had 12 seasons since 1991 of 10 or more wins but has never had more than seven out of eight. For all of its storied tradition, Michigan has never been able to achieve a better streak than seven out of eight years (1971-1978). PennState’s best streak was six out of seven from 1968-1974.

The players returning for the Boise State football team were entrusted with the keys to the legacy and with a tradition that has stunned most of the college football world outside of Idaho. Those players came through with another 10-win season, despite losing half of their seniors to the NFL, and despite the naysayers.Boise State ranks sixth in the history of the sport for the most consecutive 10-win seasons. The Broncos have won 10 or more every year since 2006. Seven straight seasons, and probably not coincidentally, as long as Chris Petersen has been coaching the team.Florida State holds the all-time record of 14 (1987-2000) that may never be broken. Pennsylvania (1890-1898) and Texas are second with nine (2001-2009), and Virginia Tech had a shot to tie the Longhorns but came up short this season. The Hokies won 10 or more every year from 2004-2011. Miami of Florida put together eight in a row from 1985-1992, while USC won 10 or more from 2002-2008, and Yale had 10-win seasons from 1888-1894. And now Boise State has tied those two historic schools. Boise State has more current onsecutive 10-win seasons than every other school in the nation, including Alabama, Michigan, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. But the Sooners have accomplished something no other school has done--win 10 games in five consecutive seasons three different times. Interestingly enough, the 12 schools that are at the top of this list pretty represent most of the powerhouses in the history of college football. Two teams notably absent from this group of consistent 10-game winners are Notre Dame and Penn State. The best the Nittany Lions did was four seasons (1971-1974), while Notre Dame strung three 10-win seasons from 1991-1993. This list pretty much sums up how great these 12 schools are.1. Florida State 14 (1987-2000)2. Texas 9 (2001-2009)2. Pennsylvania 9 (1890-1898)4. Miami of Florida 8 (1985-1992)4. Virginia Tech 8 (2004-2011)6. Boise State 7 (2006-2012)6. USC 7 (2002-2008)6. Yale 7 (1888-1894)9. Florida 6 (1993-1998)9. Princeton 6 1888-189311. Alabama 5 (1971-1975)11. Michigan 5 (1901-1905)11. Nebraska 5 (1993-1997)11. Ohio State 5 (2006-2010)11. Oklahoma 5 (1954-1958)11. Oklahoma 5 (1971-1975)11. Oklahoma 5 (2000-2004)11. Princeton 5 (1895-1899)

#11 Oklahoma held on to beat TCU 24-17.#12 Nebraska was humiliated by 7-5 Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship, 70-31.#13 Florida State squeaked by Georgia Tech in the ACC championship, 21-15.#14 Clemson does not play.#15 Oregon State beat up on poor Nicholls State 77-3.#16 UCLA lost to #8 Stanford 27-24.#17 Kent State fell to #21 Northern Illinois in a close 44-37 game in two overtimes.#18 Texas lost to #6 Kansas State 42-24.#19 Michigan does not play#20 Boise State escaped with a 27-21 win at Nevada.#21 Northern Illinois won a squeaker over #17 Kent State 44-37 in two overtimes.#22 Northwestern does not play.#23 Oklahoma State was upset by Baylor 41-34.#24 Utah State does not play.#25 San Jose State does not play.

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About Me

I have been a fan of Boise State since 1968. In 1975, I won a national Quill & Scroll award for Best Feature Writing. I graduated from Boise State in 1986 with a B.B.A. in Management. Since that time, I have researched and published several articles about the Broncos and have helped to raise $200,000 for the school as well as to sell out season football tickets and various other projects.